[stu11926]

I have a dyno appointment in the morning, and despite reading the BE help files, I have been unable to figure out how to get my LC-1 to connect to BE. I recall having a problem with this six years ago when I first had BE2011 (I've upgraded to the latest version with dongle now.) Is there anyone that can guide me through the process tonight? I think it has to do with the com port assignment.

Thanks,

Jonathan

[Landho]

Via EGR in the EEC? This way https://eectuning.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=95050

If via Serial from the guage to the laptop, then you have to go in to the hardware setup section in BE and config it there... Don't forget to configure your Transfer Functions correctly.

[stu11926]

I am not using the EGR connection through the EEC. I think part of the problem I am having is with my usb serial converter driver, the LC-1 driver (Logworks is installed), and then getting BE configured properly.

[cgrey8]

I had a problem using a cheap USB-232 adapter using the Prolific chipset/driver that never would work for me. It worked for general serial coms, but not for the WB. It just wasn't fast enough to keep up.

I replaced it with an IOGear (PN: GUC232A) also sold under the ATEN brand (PN: UC232A). It's been flawless.

[stu11926]

I had a problem using a cheap USB-232 adapter using the Prolific chipset/driver that never would work for me. It worked for general serial coms, but not for the WB. It just wasn't fast enough to keep up.

I replaced it with an IOGear (PN: GUC232A) also sold under the ATEN brand (PN: UC232A). It's been flawless.

Thanks. The cable I was using was from Radio Shack. In searching for drivers I see where people have had trouble with it using other hardware. The part number you (Chris) recommended was $20 on Amazon. It has been ordered.

The car was dyno tuned today. The tuner used my Quarterhorse and his laptop with Binary Editor. There were some odd issues that happened. First, the TPS signal wasn't being picked up. Tightening the 60 pin connector to the EEC fixed that. Then the rpm signal to his dyno kept dropping out (via inductive pickup on one of the ignition coil wires). He thinks that there is some electrical issue with my car (there was a bit of unsteadyness in the aftermarket tach), but the power graph (via wheel speed as opposed to rpm) was perfectly smooth and there were no signs of misfire in the car. It ended up making 431 rwhp, and torque was estimated at about 425. There was no clean graph of that without the rpm signal.

[cgrey8]

I have no clue why, but having the WiFi transmitter on laptops and phones has been known to affect spark plug inductive pickups and cause their values to be erratic. I had that problem the last time I went for an emissions test. I was datalogging and the guy had a hard time getting RPMs. He told me to turn the wifi off on the laptop. That did it. No wire fiddling. No additional work. Just killing the Wifi transmission cleared up the issue.

I always thought what was odd about emissions tests is the computer wants to monitor the coil wire, which gets ALL the spark plug fires, not just a single one. As a result, his computer, believing my engine was a V6 since that's what the VIN says, read a higher RPM than actual the same way my stock tach has been since the truck was a V8. Fortunately my engine idles low enough that what it was measuring was still within acceptable limits. Evidently it fails the test if the engine idles above some limit...probably 850, but he said it was different for every year so he didn't know what my cutoff was. But it did make me think had my truck been an L4 from the factory, there's a chance that this same engine wouldn't have passed due to "perceived" high idle RPM by the emissions computer.

[stu11926]

I seem to be having a very interesting situation with my car. It feels like the ignition is definitely dropping out above 3.5k-4k rpm under load in second and third gears. I didn't feel it in fourth, which is the same gear where it didn't show up at all on the dyno. Of course, with the wideband not working, I didn't bother datalogging. The WB O2 gauge didn't show anything wrong watching it. However, the car was dangerously low on gas, too. As a matter of fact, we made it back to the parking lot where my friends were parked and it wouldn't restart. I had a tow truck called on the way and figured the expense of buying a gas can and TRYING to put more fuel in it would be worth it. Sure enough, it fired right up. Unfortunately, by that point, the roads were wet and I couldn't safely put the car under load. FWIW, it only took 13.7 gallons to fill my 15.4 gallon tank, and the gauge needle wasn't on "E" yet. This tells me that the new fuel pump hanger (SN-95 version) that I put in the car isn't reaching the bottom of the tank.

*IF* it still breaks up with the engine under load and full fuel, I'm at a loss for where to begin troubleshooting. It's one thing to diagnose a no start condition, but an intermittent ignition issue? I'm going to have to do some research. I do have a MSD-6AL that I can reinstall on the car. The dyno operator did save the datalogs from the tuning session and is supposed to email them to me on Monday. I'll look and see if there is anything that shows up then. It would be a relief to find that it was just a low fuel situation and some type of interference on his inductive pickup (because it didn't break up on the dyno in fourth gear at all). However, he did mention that things "seemed to be changing"...As in he would run the car, then turn it off, and it would behave differently on restart.

[cgrey8]

My truck has a similar fuel pump oversize problem. I initially upgraded the stock 88lph pump to a Walbro 155lph back when I transplanted the Explorer 302 into my engine bay thinking it'd be necessary (it wasn't). And after doing that, I couldn't accelerate hard if the fuel level was near 1/4 tank. To make things worse for my truck, the tank is not a box, like it is on most cars. It's a long and thin tank with the pump mounted right in the center. So either hard braking OR hard accels would cause the engine to cut out if the fuel level was too low.

That pump went bad and I replaced it with a TRE-Performance pump (they were cheaper). Unfortunately, they didn't make a 155lph. They made a 255lph, so despite not needing anywhere near that kind of flow, they were still cheaper than the Walbro so I went with them. That was over 10 years ago and that pump is still running strong...and noticeably quieter than any Walbro I've ever owned. But with this larger flowing pump, I have cut-out problems if the fuel level gets below 1/2 tank on hard WOT pulls.

My guess is even if the pump is at the bottom of the tank, it's creating vortexes when the sufrace of the fuel gets too close to the pick up and thus it starts sucking up air. The moment air gets in the line, there's no maintaining pressure until the pump can reprime and regain it's grasp on the fuel. This would explain why you never saw this on the dyno...the fuel never "experienced the G-forces of an accel so there was no massive shift of fuel to one side of the tank. So it probably wouldn't have happened even if you'd used 2nd gear on the dyno. It's only associated with 2nd on the street because of the greater torque 2nd gear produces as compared to 4th.

[jsa]

Hello Chris,

I'm curious where your return runs too?

Is there any sort of surge pot or baffle in your tank?

I have a similar need to keep the tank fuel level up.

[cgrey8]

My fuel pump is in an assembly that drops into the tank and has a big plastic ring that threads down on top of it to hold it in place. The pump's pressure-side is connected to a pipe on the assembly using a 2" piece of hose. The sock on the bottom seems to lay against the bottom of the tank, but I can't see inside the tank with it in place to know for sure. The return line is the other pipe on the assembly and just dumps directly to the tank. I think there's a little formed piece of rubber on it, but there's nothing special about it. I think it even points down at an angle. The assembly also holds the level sensor too.

Here are pics care of AutoZone.com:



Interestingly, that piece of rubber hose actually ruptured on my 97 Ranger. It was a simple fix, but it requires pulling the bed off the truck to get the sending unit out. And believe me, pulling the bed off is actually easier than dropping the tank down. That's an absolute PITA that I'll never do again if I don't have to. If I do, I'll pull the bed off to make it easier to get that tank down and back in place. I've pulled the bed to do this enough times now that with another pair of hands helping me lift the bed off, I can have the bed off, do the fuel pump repair, and have the bed back on the truck & bolted down in about 35 minutes.

[jsa]

Thanks Chris.

35min...champion.

[motorhead1991]

My fuel pump is in an assembly that drops into the tank and has a big plastic ring that threads down on top of it to hold it in place. The pump's pressure-side is connected to a pipe on the assembly using a 2" piece of hose. The sock on the bottom seems to lay against the bottom of the tank, but I can't see inside the tank with it in place to know for sure. The return line is the other pipe on the assembly and just dumps directly to the tank. I think there's a little formed piece of rubber on it, but there's nothing special about it. I think it even points down at an angle. The assembly also holds the level sensor too.

Here are pics care of AutoZone.com:



Interestingly, that piece of rubber hose actually ruptured on my 97 Ranger. It was a simple fix, but it requires pulling the bed off the truck to get the sending unit out. And believe me, pulling the bed off is actually easier than dropping the tank down. That's an absolute PITA that I'll never do again if I don't have to. If I do, I'll pull the bed off to make it easier to get that tank down and back in place. I've pulled the bed to do this enough times now that with another pair of hands helping me lift the bed off, I can have the bed off, do the fuel pump repair, and have the bed back on the truck & bolted down in about 35 minutes.

I can also attest to this. Buying a T55 is a necessity for any Ranger modder, just to pull the bed.

[cgrey8]

Yep. Both trucks have their T55 bed bolts greased so if they ever have to come out again, there's no fighting them. They come right out.

I do the same with lug nuts. Ever since I started greasing wheel lugs, I've never had a lug nut strip, cross-thread, or seize. I also use a torque wrench to tighten them too. So a surprise spare swap on the side of the road won't be thwarted by an overly tightened and seized bolt that just wants to strip instead of turn with roadside tools.

[stu11926]

https://www.highflowfuel.com/i-7199155- ... %26go%3DGo

This is the fuel pump and hanger I purchased some years ago. I have the feeling this is the culprit, but I'm not sure how I can adjust it. I may call them later today (it's a West coast business) and see if they can offer any advice.

Back to the original topic of the thread: my new serial/ISB cable is due to arrive today, but I won't be back home until Thursday evening.

[stu11926]

Update: SOLVED!

I finally got home from a few weeks out of town for work and towed my car to an autocross this weekend. This was the first chance I had to finally test the new serial/USB cable Chris recommended, though I had installed the software and drivers weeks ago. I plugged it in and AFR was right there on the dashboard! I didn't have to do anything else. No port searching or reassignment or anything. I couldn't be happier about that. Thanks, Chris!

[cgrey8]

It's a shame the cheap ones just don't work well when taxed. But my IOGear's been flawless. Hope you have the same...